Typically, to pump gas into most cars, boats or other vehicles, the operator generally must remove a locking seal cap covering a fuel intake passage to open the intake passage for entry of a fuel nozzle therein. The opening of the gas intake pipe cover and the subsequent removal of the fuel cap is a two-step process that is not as convenient or as efficient as merely opening the cover and inserting the gasoline hose. Often, especially with many older cars, the operator must either hold on to the cap or lay it down on top of the car or somewhere else close to the vehicle while they pump the gas. A problem with this is that often times after pumping the gas, especially in inclement weather, the operator will forget to retrieve and replace the cap over the gas intake, often simply driving off and leaving the cap or having it roll away to become lost or destroyed. As a result, the gas intake for the car is left unsealed, enabling release of gasoline vapors and potential introduction of contaminants into the fuel tank, and the owner/operator must go to either the dealership or a specialty automotive store to find a gas cap of the particular size and configuration required for his or her vehicle.
More recently, vehicle gas caps have begun to be equipped with a tether or strap, which allows the caps to simply hang or swing down below the fuel intake. The edges of the caps, however, can scratch the vehicle finish when allowed to drop or swing down, and if the straps become broken, the caps still can be lost. Another problem is that over time the fuel caps typically become covered with grease, fuel, dirt and dust and thus become somewhat messy and unsanitary to remove.
Additionally, on average, there are over 16,000,000 vehicles sold in the United States every year and over 200,000,000 total vehicles on the road. Over the course of a year, it has been estimated that vehicles lose as much as 150,000,000 gallons of fuel a year because of a damaged or missing fuel cap. It is further estimated that upwards of over 200,000,000 gallons of fuel are lost every year through the forcing out of fumes of fuel that are in the fuel tank during the filling of the tank. These fumes are forced out of the fuel tank because the tank is a closed system that exchanges the fuel tank fumes with fuel during filling and draws those replaced fumes out of the tank into the recapture system of the fueling station. These escaping fumes are both a safety and environmental hazard. Fueling stations have been the site of numerous explosions caused by escaping fumes from fuel tanks. Additionally, the fumes aspirate the air and create environmental hazards in the air for humans, plants, and animals.
It can therefore be seen that a need exists for an automobile fuel intake device that addresses these and other related and unrelated problems in the art.